Retiring early?

Early retirement is rarely a full stop but a milestone with significant changes. We undertook a full review of Mr P’s current planning and his lifestyle to determine his position.

Background

Mr P, a divorced male in his mid-50’s, had a number of different pension schemes. Two of these were personal pensions which were invested in diverse portfolios whilst two others were in occupational pensions relating to previous employment from which he had little communication. More importantly, the scheme rules precluded earlier retirement than at age 65 which Mr P saw as a disadvantage.

Mr P was working in a high pressure role with little support from his employers, he was getting close to burnout and early retirement was already on his mind. He hoped that by getting some good independent financial advice it would enable him to understand his options more clearly so he contacted Logic Wealth Planning to complete a review of his retirement planning to ascertain how much extra he needed to pay into personal pensions to enable him to retire a little earlier.

Our approach

Logic Wealth Planning undertook a full review of both his current planning and his lifestyle. Using detailed questionnaires and cash flow modelling, we were very pleased to conclude that instead of having to contribute more into pensions, he could consider retiring fully now if he wished. This was achievable by transferring the two occupational pension schemes to one personal drawdown plan, which offered a guaranteed minimum growth rate and no restriction on the amount of growth which the risk graded fund could produce.

The outcome

As a result of our financial advice, Mr P has resigned from the very stressful position he held, has taken a well-earned long holiday and is now just working short term contracts to fit in with his lifestyle. In his own words, “I can now live my life and not have to work to live”.

An additional benefit to transferring the two pension schemes was that should he pass away, the full value of the pension funds can be passed on to his children, unlike the occupational schemes which would not pay anything as he was divorced and his adult children were not dependents.